Saturday Morning Thoughts

• We've made no secret about some of the changes that we are wanting to make at Real Life. The main notion is that we want to expand the leadership base at Real Life. As such, we are making some changes with our worship, promotions, administration, and a host of other areas. The process isn't going to come without a price.
• So, what price will we pay? There are a host of costs that come with making these changes. First, we are likely to experience some failures before success. As painful as failure is it often comes before success. When you are learning to ride a bike you have to learn to fall before you can ride the bike. For us, as we put new people into leadership there are likely to be some failures. People will miss the mark with respect to communication. There is always a learning curve. And finally, people will just plain make a bad decision or two.
  
• The important thing for us as a body is to extend a measure of grace to those who are stepping up into new positions. Grace allows people the opportunity to learn without feeling the pressure of everyone demanding perfection.
• What other prices will be paid? It means that all of us will do more and less at the same time. As we grow larger and larger what we do as leaders, workers, and church members should become more focused on what we are really good at. For me, as the pastor, for the first year and a half of our churches existence I pretty much had a hand in everything that went on.
  
• Today, I am finding myself involved in fewer things, making fewer decisions and focusing more on what a pastor should be doing. Being the primary teacher, providing for the administrative structure of the church, being a general overseer of the church and it's ministries, and keeping everyone true to the vision of the church. I will admit that isn't always easy. This church has been my baby. But, much like we as parents have to surrender "our children" and turn them over to God's care because really they are "his children." I find myself trying to, and sometimes struggling with, turning the church over to God because ultimately it's his baby and not mine. I am here to be a steward of his church.

More to come later.....